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How is the Windows Registry Structured?
The registry database is stored in a hierarchical structure as may be seen from the screen shot below. It may be best to conceive the registry as a tree divided into a number of areas or branches. Depending on your Windows version, the Registry comprises four to six sub-trees of keys called hives (also referred to as discrete files).
Each hive contains a Registry sub-tree, which has a key that serves as the root (i.e., starting point) of the tree. A registry hive is a group of keys, subkeys, and values in the registry that has a set of supporting files containing backups of its data. Subkeys and their values reside beneath the root. The values contain the actual information stored in the Registry. The majority of the information in the Registry is placed there automatically by Windows when the operating system is installed. The rest comes from applications and hardware via installation routines.
The following screen-shots are taken from the Windows Registry Editor (type 'regedit.exe' at the Start Menu->Run prompt).
Folders represent keys in the registry (files represent hives) and are shown in the navigation area on the left side of the Registry Editor window. In the topic area on the right, the entries in a key are displayed. When you double-click a entry, it opens an editing dialog box.
As such, what you need to remember is that there are six root keys, each of which contains specific registry information:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT contains file associations and OLE information necessary to launch applications.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER contains the configuration information for the user who is currently logged on the machine.
HKEY_USERS branch contains the profiles (including all the specific data) of all the users of the particular computer.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE has computer-specific configuration information used for all users who log onto computer.
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG contains all the relevant information relating to the hardware installed on the particular computer.
HKEY_DYN_DATA stores all plug and play information on the computer.
File Associations
Each registry value is stored as one of six main data types:
REG_BINARY: The data is in raw binary. Most of the information relating to hardware components is stored in this format and may be displayed by the Windows Registry Editor in hexadecimal format.
REG_DWORD indicates that the data type is stored in a double word, always displayed as a four-byte number. Device drivers and services parameters are often of this type and can be viewed in binary, hexadecimal, or decimal using the Registry editor.
REG_EXPAND_SZ relates to a data string of variable length. This data type includes variables that are resolved when a program or service uses the data.
REG_MULTI_SZ is a multiple string. Values of this type of data usually contain list or multiple values that users are able to read.
REG_SZ relates to a fixed length text string.
REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR are used in hardware registry keys.
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